Twitter Founder: Murdoch Will 'Fail Fast'

@wendi_deng is not actually Mrs. Rupert Murdoch

(NEWSER) - If you spent the weekend glued to Rupert Murdoch's newly launched Twitter account (sample tweet about St. Barth's: "too many people") and found glee in the public admonishments wife Wendi Deng tweeted his way (sample: "RUPERT!! delete tweet!!"), some bad news. Her account is, shockingly, a fake (though Twitter marked it as verified.) Let the shock wear off, then read the latest from @wendi_deng , posted about an hour ago: "Hello Twitter. As News International has finally come to their senses, it's time to confirm that yes, this is a fake account. I'm not Wendi." More»

But is the account real? Some think not

(NEWSER) - Rupert Murdoch on Twitter? It seems unlikely, and many, including Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff , insist the account that popped up yesterday is fake. But none other than Twitter's own executive chairman, Jack Dorsey, tweeted last night: "With his own voice, in his own way, @RupertMurdoch is now on Twitter." The first tweet was posted 19 hours ago, and the account already has nearly 20,000 followers. It also has the blue and white "Verified Account" checkmark next to Murdoch's name. More»

UK Times stories will be invisible, unless you've paid

(NEWSER) - The Times of London and Sunday Times aren't just going behind a paywall, they're going behind a pay fortress. The papers won't allow their stories to appear on Google or any other search engines, paidContent.org reports. Search engines will have access only to their homepages. Nor will there be any free stories or even preview snippets for customers. If you hit a story page, you'll just be greeted by a login box. More»

Murdoch says move will wait until paywalls go up at newspaper sites

(NEWSER) - News Corp. honcho Rupert Murdoch wants to put a permanent end to “parasite” Google’s “kleptomania” when it comes to content on his newspapers’ websites. Murdoch says the Wall Street Journal and others will likely be removed from Google’s search registry “when we start charging”—that is, when planned paywalls go up, a process that has been delayed. More»

(NEWSER) - Rupert Murdoch will test out his new pay-to-read Internet model this November, when News Corp launches a stand-alone website for Britain's Sunday Times. According to the Guardian, the site will feature "communities editors" and its own team of journalists. It's unclear whether users will pay a subscription or a per-visit fee. More»